


strangers, cigarettes, and a rainstorm

by frogust



Category: Hunter X Hunter
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-04
Updated: 2021-01-05
Packaged: 2021-03-15 04:29:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,900
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28557645
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/frogust/pseuds/frogust
Summary: Two strangers stuck together at a bus stop, in an indiscriminate city, in the rain.
Relationships: Kurapika/Leorio Paladiknight
Comments: 5
Kudos: 38





	1. 1

**Author's Note:**

> i saw fanart of them smoking, and i had to do this. it's a bit cheesy, but ah well. also, trans leorio and nonbinary kurapika <3
> 
> ALSO everything i write is one-draft no proofreading (cause i live life on the edge), so there will be some grammar issues or things like that. pls tell me if somethings really off :)

The bus was late. He supposed that made sense- there was a heavy rainstorm, something that had been happening for days now, and large puddles and various patches of flooding speckled the city streets, inhibiting traffic. Traffic that included the public transit system, which Leorio relied on almost as heavily as the underground railway. But that was completely shut down, a result of on-and-off blackouts caused by the storm, and many poor citizens, including himself, had been displaced as a result.

So he sat at the bus stop, under the clear awning, trying to ignore the feeling of wet clothing sticking to his skin and the cold, metal bench on his ass. Wind whistled through the cracks in the structure, bringing with it the chill and the rain, and he shivered at the sensation, tugging his overcoat tighter around him. He was wearing his thin doctor’s scrubs, because he hadn’t had the sense to think ahead, and that faded overcoat was the only thing standing between him and hypothermia.

Leorio wasn’t the only one sitting there. At first, it had been busy, filled with the striking variety of this city. Young and old, of every gender and race and probably sexuality. But after twenty-ish minutes, those people had started to give up and slowly filter away, choosing to endure the cold rainfall instead of waiting for a bus that might not even come. Leorio was jealous. He didn’t have that choice- if he decided to walk back to his apartments, it would take him an hour, maybe even two with the horrible weather. He’d rather sit here, shivering slightly, clutching his briefcase to his chest, and watch drops of water collect on his glasses. 

It seemed he wasn’t the only one facing this dilemma. As what seemed like the last person shuffled away- an old man, who had been hunched next to him, murmuring to himself- a lumpy figure in the opposite corner of Leorio’s was revealed. Lumpy because of the sheer amount of clothing that they had on, and the position they had taken in the seat: legs folded, head resting on their knees. They had on chunky black boots (Doc Martens, he realized), and a gray beanie, and that was about all he could see, because a giant coat covered the rest of their form. It was hard to determine anything about them, as much as Leorio wanted to. He was a talkative person, he liked learning the stories and musings of strangers, but he lived in a city where strangers had the tendency to either be rude or insane. It was sad, and something he disliked about the place, but he had learned to people-watch instead. Like he was doing now.

Except he was getting bored with it by the minute. It had been forty-five minutes, according to his watch, since the bus was supposed to arrive. Dusk was beginning to settle around them, making their small, depressing scene look flat and lifeless. He was restless- he tended to get fidgety when he sat for too long. He needed a distraction.

“Nice weather we’re having, eh?” Leorio said. He spoke loudly, to be heard over the pounding rain, and his voice sounded rough and scratchy to his own ears. Long ago, he had accepted his own ability to say stupid shit randomly, and had decided to let go the embarrassment that came with such a habit. So he started unabashedly at the stranger, his words echoing around the small plastic space, met with silence. After a moment, after he had decided to give up at any attempted conversation, the person moved.

They raised their head, turning to look at Leorio, and he noticed blonde hairs poking out from underneath their hat. A dark, woolen scarf wrapped around their neck and the bottom half of their face, but he could make out pale skin, and wide, gray-brown eyes were fixed on him with indistinguishable emotions.

“Truly,” They said, and even though their voice was muffled, Leorio heard wry humor in that tone. He sighed inwardly, in relief. 

“I’m jealous,” He said, and he could feel a small smile forming on his face, unbidden. The stranger had a mysterious intrigue. “You were smart enough to wear layers. I think various appendages are going to start falling off of my body any second.”

Their eyes wrinkled in an indication of a smile. “I’m still freezing. If it makes you feel better, both of us will be limbless.”

Leorio didn’t have anything to say to that, other than the chuckle that escaped his chest. Instead, he watched as the stranger adjusted their position, so that their legs were crossed on the bench, and the coat fell around them like a blanket. The scarf fell as well, uncovering their face, revealing small lips and a pointy nose and chin. Like a fairy, Leorio thought. The fairy in question rummaged around in their pockets, checking each layer (did they have on four jackets?) and pulled out a single cigarette and a lighter. They had on fingerless gloves, and Leorio watched as they lit the cigarette, cupping long, gloved hands around it. The glow of the lighter illuminated their features, further adding to the fairy effect. They leaned back, inhaling, and together, the two strangers watched smoke curl around the inside of the bus stop. 

“Do you mind?” They asked, not looking at Leorio. 

“No,” He said, and then, “Those things’ll kill you.”

A grim smile danced across their lips. “I know.”

Leorio frowned at that. He had nothing to add. He had once smoked, a lot more than was healthy, and not always just tobacco. But he felt like a hypocrite, when he had become a doctor, and so had cut back, hard. He realized he was still staring, brows furrowed, at the stranger, when they wordlessly reached into their pocket once more and held out a cigarette. A peace offering. How could Leorio refuse? He took it, held it loosely between his lips, and leaned forward to allow the fairy-like person to light it for him. A long finger brushed his cheek, cold, and he looked up to see their face closer than what was probably best for his heart. He cleared his throat and sat up, and they followed suit, tucking the light back into a pocket.

Now, two plumes of pale smoke wavered in the air, intertwining, occasionally buffeted by the storm. They were lit by the glow of the streets lamps that had turned on automatically at some point, and the headlights from honking cars, stuck in city traffic, that seemed so distant and unimportant.

“Would you rather both your arms fall off or both your legs?” Leorio broke the silence once again, with a classic uncomfortably personal question.  
“What the fuck,” They turned to look at him, eyebrows raised, and Leorio met their stare with a grin and a shrug. “Um… arms. Obviously.”

“Really? Interesting choice. You know, you couldn’t write, or type, or jack off…”

They snorted loudly, once, their face turning bright red. “I don’t need to do… that. At least I’d be able to walk.”

“Okay, okay. Fair point. If someone offered you one million bucks to stand in a closet full of thousands of spiders for five hours, would you do it?”

“No. No amount of money could convince me to do that. I’d rather stay poor,” They mumbled, cigarette hanging from their mouth. Both of them had been sheepishly depositing the ash onto the ground. Leorio decided he would plant a bunch of trees to make up for it.

Leorio laughed. “Not a fan of spiders?”

They shuddered in response.

“Okay, I have a good one. Would you rather live a long life but die with regrets, or a short life but die having done everything you wanted to do?” He hoped that wasn’t too heavy for a talk with a stranger, but the rain and darkening sky had him feeling philosophical.

“... Short life. No question,” They sighed, extinguishing the cigarette on the bench next to them. It sizzled quietly, flame meeting the raindrops that had dripped down onto the cool metal. “I’d choose that immediately over what I have right now, if I could.”

“What about your family? Or your friends?”

“I have none.”

“Oh. I’m sorry,” Leorio winced. “But… I think we’re friends. I’ve decided, actually. As of now.”

“We don’t know each other,” They said, but the dark expression that had crept onto their features was ebbing away, and Leorio almost sighed in relief. They were right, they didn’t know each other, but something about the stranger felt familiar, and he didn’t want to see them sad. “We don’t even know each other's names.”

“I’m Leorio,” He held out his hand. “I’m twenty-seven years old, I live north of the city, I’m a doctor, I hate tomatoes and capitalists, and I’m perpetually single despite the fact that I’m attracted to every gender.”

A smile danced across their lips, and they grasped his hand in return. Leorio’s fingers wrapped around theirs effortlessly. “Nice to meet you, Leorio. I’m Kurapika, I’m twenty-five, I live in the city, north-east, I work part-time in a library, I hate spiders and people who aren’t self-aware, and, despite the fact that I have no labels on both my gender identity and sexuality, therefore making me available to most people, I’m perpetually single because I’m horribly unsociable.”

“Kurapika. Nice to meet you, too. And… you seem relatively sociable.”

They wrinkled their nose. “I’m not usually this talkative. It’s just… I don’t know. I feel like we’ve met before. But I don’t have any memory of it. Also, you’re easy to talk to.”

“Well, I’m honored. And I have that feeling, too, actually. Do you believe in past lives? Or like, reincarnation shit?”

“Not really.”

“Me either,” Leorio huffed, grinning. Something about Kurapika made him smile stupidly. He wanted to know more about them.

So he asked.

He asked more stupid questions, and some deep ones as well. They chatted about their respective jobs, and their home lives. Kurapika was smart, Leorio realized. It was evident in the way they talked, and the way they answered his questions. They had some depressing ideas, though. They seemed content with their job as a librarian, but the way they talked sounded lonely. Like they were missing something. A friend, maybe. A partner. Leorio found himself relating, a depressing thought.

It was interesting, he mused, the way two strangers found solace in one another. The way they were pushed together, in an inconvenient situation, and the way they had found things to connect to one another. Kurapika agreed with his assessment of capitalism, and Leorio agreed with their general dislike of oblivious people. They had similar struggles with sexuality, and gender identity. Both of them were what Leorio had heard referred to as “pansexual”. When he offered the term to Kurapika, it was rejected. They didn’t like worrying about labels, same as their gender. They had been more forthcoming about their pronouns and such when Leorio had informed them of his identity as a trans man. Kurapika told him that he didn’t care what people called him, but that he preferred they/he pronouns. It was interesting, to have someone to talk to about this with. None of his friends minded his identity, but it had taken a few of them some time getting used to it. Kurapika accepted it with not even a blink or a stutter.

He could also admit to himself that he found the blond attractive. Very much so. It felt like they were on a date, which was stupid, but Kurapika was very charming, in an odd way. As much as he hated waiting, Leorio was enjoying his time with this stranger.

The bus came too soon.

They were on the same one, at least, but when they both got off, they would be going different directions.

As they boarded, they pressed together instinctually, a pair of individuals, friends, strangers, stood together against the world, or perhaps just the dark, damp interior of the city bus. They sat together, too, in the back of the bus. Kurapika’s shoulder was pressed against Leorio’s, and their thighs brushed whenever the bus lurched. Despite the cold, he felt warm. The blond smelled like cigarettes, and something else. Like a library: rich wood, faded old parchment. Leorio inhaled deeply with every breath. They had lapsed into a silence as soon as they boarded. It was an unspoken rule that the only people who talked on the city’s public transportation were crackheads and tourists.

The traffic was letting up, the storm dying down, and it only took half an hour to reach their stop. Wordlessly, they stepped off the bus, shoes splattering rain onto their calves. It didn’t bother Leorio. He was already soaked and uncomfortable. They stood awkwardly, not quite facing each other, as the bus screeched and pulled away, spraying them with water once again. Kurapika looked up at him, thoughtfully.

“It was nice to meet you, Leorio,” They said.

He smiled, a bit helplessly. “You, too.”

There was nothing left to say. Kurapika walked away, towards the direction of their home. Leorio watched them for a bit, feeling melancholic, before sitting down at the stop, waiting for the next bus that would take him to his own place.

There was no wise, fairy-like stranger to talk to, this time. The bus wasn’t late. He rode home, swaying with the movement of the driver, deep in thought. He hadn’t thought to get Kurapika’s number. He hadn’t asked their address, or the name of the library that they worked at. 

When he got home, he collapsed on his couch with a sigh, still in his wet clothes. He was rewarded with a soft rustling, as his coat moved. That was a new noise.

Leorio reached into his pocket, and found a lump there, where that hadn’t been one before. He pulled out a small object- a cigarette. He felt a smile come unbidden. Wrapped around the cigarette was a piece of paper. Carefully, he rolled it open. 

Written on the paper was a phone number, signed with the words “-your friend and stranger, Kurapika.”


	2. 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i wasn't going to continue this, but then i did. so. ahh

Kurapika had used his phone more in the two weeks after meeting Leorio than they had in their entire life. It was odd, really, but something about the ridiculous gangly man was... addicting. There was no better word for it, not that they could think of. He texted in abbreviations and shortened words that Kurapika could barely understand, but they found themselves smiling stupidly at their phone every time Leorio texted randomly, informing them of everything from an article on spiders (gross) to updates about his work at the hospital where he worked.

Kurapika was too nervous to ask for anything more than texting. They wanted to see him again, but they also knew how terrible they were at having friends, or anything more than that. They had accepted long ago that they were simply not cut out for relationships of any manner, with anyone. It was a combination of mental illness and simply their personality, which was more cut out for shushing people in the library and scolding them for dog-earing the pages of precious manuscripts.

They were doing that right now. A pair of teens had come in, and were chattering loudly and enthusiastically in the corner. Kurapika had already hissed at them twice, and they were currently mentally preparing to go over and kick the boys out of the library.

Their preparation was interrupted when the doors to the building, which were inconveniently close to their desk, swung open with a bang, carrying a cold gust of wind and some snowflakes. It had begun snowing this week, and Kurapika was suffering- they hated the cold, as it seemed to cut directly into their bones. Growling, they looked over in the direction of the doors, and were greeted with an unexpected sight.

Leorio stood in the doorway, in his doctors’ scrubs, and the heavy coat that he’d been wearing at the bus stop. There were snowflakes stuck to his spiky black hair, and the scruff around his chin made him look a bit manic. He was scanning the room methodically, and when his eyes found Kurapika, he grinned widely, and slunk towards him, letting the heavy wooden doors slam behind him. Kurapika normally would have yelled, but the sight of the doctor made their heart feel warm, and they knew they were grinning in response, despite their efforts to look stern.

“Hey, Kurapika!” He said, cheerily, leaning against the desk that the blond was sitting at.

“Hi, Leorio… what are you doing here?”

Leorio shrugged. “I got off early, and I felt like coming here to bother you. Do you mind? I can leave if you’re busy…”

“No, no, it’s fine. I get off in an hour, and it’s not busy today,” Kurapika tried to sound casual. The computer in front of them beeped, and they turned back to the screen. “Um, do you want to sit?”

Leorio strolled around the desk, plopping down on the proffered chair next to them. He scooted forward then, narrowing his eyes, and Kurapika felt rather than saw his eyes sweep up and down their body. The dark jeans and sweater they had on suddenly felt too small.

“It’s weird seeing you without, like, twenty layers of clothing on.”

“Hey, I get cold easily,” They were blushing. Great.

“That’s probably because you’re so small,” Leorio nodded, and Kurapika glowered.

“You’re just abnormally lanky.”

He belted a laugh, and their librarian instincts almost automatically shushed him. “That’s true.”

There was a brief silence, filled with the sound of Kurapika tapping on the old-fashioned keyboard. Leorio leaned forward, peering at the screen, and their shoulders brushed. 

“That looks boring.”

“It’s not my favorite part of being a librarian,” Kurapika grimaced. “I’m not good with technology.”

“You do text like an old lady.”

“Did you come here to insult me?”

“Not an insult. I think it’s cute.”

Their face felt unusually warm. They finished what they were doing on the computer and sat back, chair squeaking. Leorio sat up as well, still smiling in a self-satisfied fashion.

“What else do you do here, Librarian Kurapika?” It was weird hearing Leorio say their name. He didn’t have an accent, but there was a faint rolling of the ‘r’ that suggested he spoke another language.

“Mostly I just read and yell at kids.”

“That sounds rather enjoyable, actually. What are you reading right now?”

“The Ilead,” They nodded their head at the heavy volume that sat on the desk, next to an empty cup of coffee and their phone.

“Damn,” Leorio looked oddly amused. “I’ve read the Odyssey, and that was enough for me. It took, like, three months to decipher.”

“At least you’ve read it. Most people dismiss the true classics, if they even read at all...”

It turned out that Leorio was surprisingly well-read. He came across as kind of airheaded, but Kurapika supposed he had also made it through medical school, so he had to be smart. He seemed to be a fan of fantasy, and as Kurapika led him through the rows of books, he pointed out the ones he had read. It seemed they both had read and enjoyed “The Lord of the Rings”, and a few Stephen King novels. Leorio remarked that he had been too scared to leave his bed when reading them, and Kurapika conceded that they were, in fact, rather scary.

They ended up sitting in a secluded corner of the library, on the beanbags that Kurapika usually thought were stupid. But Leorio had looked upon them with such delight that they found it hard to say no.

“Hey, Leorio,” They said, during a beat of silence.

“Mhm?”

“Do you speak another language? Sometimes you say things with an accent.”

“Oh, yeah,” He said, looking a bit surprised. His ridiculous legs were folded underneath him, and Kurapika thought he looked like a spider. The only spider that they would ever like. “I speak Italian, French, and a bit of Spanish.”

“Ah, je parle Français aussi. Est-ce que tu Italien?”

“Ouais. Uh… how did you know?”

Kurapika smiled a bit. “You look very Italian. And you’re rather loud.”

And Leorio laughed, loudly.

They talked for far too long, after that. Kurapika ended up laying down, curled up, with their head on Leorio’s leg. Leorio was sprawled out. Kurapika told him he looked like one of those unfortunate tiger-skin rugs, and they could feel the rumble in his stomach as he chuckled.

The feeling that they had known each other before, or even been friends before, persisted. It made Kurapika far too comfortable, so that when Leorio ran his hand through their hair, they accepted it without a thought, and the shudder that ran through them seemed normal, natural, as if they had felt this way before.

They hadn’t, though. Not in this lifetime. Kurapika had never felt this way with someone, but it didn’t occur to them to be afraid. Not when they were so comfortable, curled around Leorio like a cat, feeling large hands playing with the blond strands of hair that fell around them.

So when they looked up, in the middle of talking about something that probably didn’t matter, and saw Leorio looking at them with something in his eyes that Kurapika hadn’t seen before, they weren’t surprised. And they weren’t even surprised when Leorio leaned down to press a kiss against the side of their mouth. They just craned their neck up to accept it.

It was an awkward angle, and Kurapika shifted uncomfortably. Leorio moved back to his odd horizontal tiger-rug position.

“Do you mind?” Leorio asked, hesitantly.

Kurapika shook their head, sitting up, so that they hovered over him. Slowly, they reached down to rest their hands on the sides of his head, and brought their lips to his. He gasped quietly into the kiss, and Kurapika felt him smiling against their mouth. Their lips quirked, too, but they weren’t sure why. 

Even though they were in a library, the library where Kurapika worked, making out in the corner like two hormonal teenagers, it wasn’t a desperate affair. It didn’t feel sleazy, although it probably looked it. They took their time, pressing into one another slowly, leisurely, like an old, much-practiced couple.

There was that feeling again, pressing urgent against their chest. They chose to set it aside, and focus on the charming, surprisingly attractive man underneath them.

He gasped slightly as Kurapika pulled away, feeling rather flustered. Their heart was beating rapidly, and they were sure their hair was a mess.

“As much as I would like to continue… I don’t want to be fired. And my shift ended half an hour ago,” Kurapika’s voice sounded hoarse.

“Right, right. Sorry,” Leorio looked embarrassed for what might’ve been the first time ever. “Um… are you taking the underground home?”

“Yes.”

“Great! Me, too.”

Kurapika stood up, feeling only slightly unstable, and as Leorio followed, he grasped their hand. Kurapika felt like a schoolgirl, blushing madly. 

And their hands remained joined as they walked to the underground, and as they sat together on the train, swaying, and talking quietly, as if they had been this way, together, all their lives.


End file.
